Manhole cover support for warning signal standard



Feb. 15, 1966 F. c. LODDE, JR 3,235,215

MANHOLE COVER SUPPORT FOR WARNING SIGNAL STANDARD Filed May 12, 1964 2 2 L") 5 f /6 INVENTOR,

7 /f t; y A TTOEN E Y United States Patent 3,235,215 MANHOLE COVER SUPPORT FOR WARNING SIGNAL STANDARD Frederick C. Lodde, Jr., 709 E. 63rd Terrace, Kansas City, Mo. Filed May 12, 1964, Ser. No. 366,811 7 Claims. (Cl. 248-161) This invention relates to an improved support for a warning signal standard, and especially to an assembly for supporting the standard that may be quickly and easily clamped to a manhole cover after removal of the same from the manhole, to thereby assure that the signal will remain in an upright, readily observable position at all times, even under high winds, or inadvertent engagement thereof by workmen during their working activities around the manhole.

When it is necessary for men towork in a street, and particularly when they must descend into a manhole, it is an absolute requirement that some type of safety indicator be provided adjacent the work area. or manhole to warn approaching motorists of the dangerous condition. With the increase in traffic in. recent years, the problem has become especially acutebecause of the fact that motorists oftentimes are not able to see the workers or their equipment, until very close to the work area. Various types of safety devices and warning signals have been developed for the purpose of providing a warning to approaching motorists of construction or maintenance activity ahead of them, but these deviceshave not always been entirely satisfactory. If the unit is made with the center of gravity thereof sufiiciently close to the ground to preclude tipping of the signal under high winds, then the warning device itself is not at a sufiicient elevation to be visible at an extended distance, particularly by motorists and vehicles behind the lead car approaching the workmen and their equipment. On the other hand, if the safety device is constructed of suflicient height to be readily visible by motorists at same distance from the workmen, and especially those persons in cars behind the ones directly approaching the working area, there is a tendency for the signal device to be blown over under relatively high winds, or be tipped over by the workmen as they go about their activities.

Since it is often necessary for the workmen tocarry out their work in the general area of a manhole, or to actually descend into the manhole, a manhole cover is frequently available for securing a signal device thereto, but prior structures for this general purpose have not been entirely satisfactory because of the high cost thereof, the difficulty in suitably aflixing the signal support to the manhole cover, and the tendency of the devices to soon become inoperable because of failure of the many components thereof to operate in a proper manner. However, manhole covers provide an ideal means for securing of a signal support thereto, because of the relatively high mass of the cover, the fact that the same is either readily available for such purpose, or must actually be removed from the manhole to provide access thereto, the low center of gravity of the cover as it lies in flat engagement with the surface of the street, and the ability of the cover to be shifted to any desired location as required to provide proper warning to the public as they approach the work area.

It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved support for a warning signal standard, which is adapted for ready fixation to a manhole cover, while the latter lies in flat engagement with the ground, and which may be easily removed from the manhole upon completion of the work operation.

It is another significant object of the invention to provide a signal standard support for manhole covers as 3,235,215 Patented Feb. 15, 1966 described above, which is adapted to support various types of signal devices mounted on an upright standard, and which is adapted for use with electrically powered warningdevices, as well as warning flags, reflectors, and other nonelectrical components.

It is a particularly important object of the invention to provide a signal standard support having a central tubular member for telescopically receiving the signal support standard, as well as a plurality of legs mounted on the tubular support member in a novel manner so that the entire assembly may be easily clamped to a manhole cover by the simple expedient of placing the feet of the legs under the peripheral lip of the manhole cover, and then shifting the central standard support toward the manhole cover to an extent to cause the tubular member to. contact the upper surface of the cover and thereby effectively secure the clamp to the manhole cover.

A still further very important object of the invention is to provide a support for supporting a signal standard, that is especially adapted to be affixed to a manhole cover and which may be collapsed into a relatively small package after removal from the manhole cover, for easy transportation of the clamp, and assuring that the clamp occupies a minimum space on theutility vehicle.

It is also an important aim of the invention to provide a support for supporting a safety signal standard, which is effective for the purposes referred to above, and that may be manufactured and distributed at a minimum cost, with less maintenance on the assembly being required than with prior structures for this purpose, because of the simple components of the unit, the ruggedness of such components, and the positive action of the operating members during mounting of the same on a manhole cover, or removal of the clamp therefrom.

Other objects of the present invention will be described or will become obvious as the following specification progresses.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a support for a warning signal standard, embodying the preferred concepts of the present invention, and shown mounted in the normal position thereof on a manhole cover after the same has been removed from the manhole;

FIG. 2 is. an enlarged, fragmentary, horizontal crosssectional view taken substantially on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and looking downwardly in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG; 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, vertical cross-sectional view through the lower extremity of one of the legs of the support and illustrating the way in which the foot portion thereof engages under the outwardly extending lip of the manhole cover.

The warning signal standard support illustrated in the drawings, and constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, is broadly designated by the numeral 10 and shown mounted in the normal position thereof on a manhole cover 12. As is apparent from FIGS. 1 and 4, support 10 is especially adapted for mounting on a cover 12 having an upper circular section 14 of somewhat greater diameter than the lower integral circular section 16 so that the outer peripheral margin of section 14 presents a lip projecting outwardly from the peripheral margin of section 16.

Support 10 includes an elongated, central member 18 in the nature of a tube which is externally threaded at the upper extremity thereof as indicated by the section 20. An internally threaded, generally cylindrical collar 22 is complementally threaded over section 20 and is provided with three outwardly extending projections 24 thereon located approximately 120 apart with respectto the axis of collar '22. The projections 24 serve to support respective legs broadly designated 26, with one leg being provided for each projection 24.

As indicated in FIGS. 3 and 4, each of the legs 26 is of transversely U-shaped configuration to present an inwardly facing channel, so that the individual legs may be disposed with the upper extremities thereof receiving corresponding projections 24 as shown in FIG. 3. Pivot pins 28 extending through the opposed sides of each leg 26 as well as a corresponding projection 24, serve to pivotally :mount legs 26 on collar 22.

A'cylindrical component 30 slidably mounted on tubular member 18 below collar 22, has three bifurcated extensions 32 thereon which serve to pivotally receive respective links 34 through the medium of corresponding pivot pins 36 through extensions 32 and the proximal extremities of links 34. The opposite extremities of links '34 are received in the channels of corresponding legs 26,

' or standard 46. It is to be understood in this respect that if desired, tubular member 18 may be provided with an internal stop therewithin for limiting downward movement of the standard 46 with respect to tubular member 18. In any event, means for securing standard 46 to tubular member 18 in any desired position with respect thereto includes a split locking ring 48 around standard 46 immediately above collar 40, as well as a locking nut 50 over ring 48 and complementally threaded onto the externally threaded upper portion of collar 40. Upon rotation of nut 50 in a direction to thread the same onto collar 40, the ring 48 is decreased in diameter to frictionally engage the outer surface of standard 46 and thereby releasably lock the same in a selected position with respect to tubular member 18.

The lower extremities of each of the legs 26 are bifurcated to receive the elongated feet 52 which are pivotally mounted thereon through the medium of pivot pins 54 extending through the opposite side portions of legs 26.

As is best shown in FIG. 4, each of the legs 26 has a downwardly facing stop surface 56 serving to limit rotation of the feet 52 in a counterclockwise direction. This is true because of the manner in which each of the feet 52 projects outwardly of corresponding pivot pins 54 to an extent to engage stop surface 56 on a respective leg 26. However, each of the feet 52 may be swung in the opposite direction into a position completely received within the channel of a corresponding leg 26, to thereby ing legs 26, to cause hook members 52 to lie in a common plane substantially parallel with a plane through the section 16 of manhole cover 12, when the tubular member 18 is in engagement with the upper face of section 14, as will be explained hereinafter.

The mast 46 shown in FIG. 1 is presented only for illustrative purposes, and it to be recognized that any type of signal support may be employed which will be telescopically received in tubular member 18. In the standard shown, branches 49 are adapted to receive signal flag supports or other similar devices. In this respect, an extensible standard may be employed as shown wherein an upper standard 58 is telescoped into standard 46 and releasably secured in proper disposition with respect thereto by releasable clamping assembly 60.

In operation, the standard 46 is normally maintained separate from support 10, until after the latter has been positioned in place on manhole cover 12. Securing of clamp 10 to cover 12 is accomplished by rotation of feet 52 into the disposition thereof illustrated in FIG. 4, and shifting of component 30 toward collar 22 to an extent to cause the inner extremities of feet 52 to clear the margin of section 14 of cover 12. The legs 26 are then swung toward section 16 of cover 12 until feet 52 engage below the lip defined by the outer margin of section 14, Whereupon the operating handles 44 are then manually turned to rotate tubular member 18 in a direction to shift the latter toward the upper face of section 14 of manhole cover 12; Upon contact of the lower extremity of tubular member 18 with the upper surface of cover 12, the operating handles 44 are rotated until support 10 is tightly affixed to manhole cover 12.

The standard 46 may then be inserted in tubular member 18 and nut 50 rotated to lock standard 46 in proper disposition. Suitable warning devices may then be placed in position on branches 49, or 'on the top of standard 58.

The support 10 may be easily removed from manhole cover 12 by a reverse procedure wherein rotation of tubular member 18 in the opposite direction to move the same away from the surface of section 14, releases feet 52 from the lip of section 14 for ready collapsing of support 19 as the component 30 is shifted away from collar 22 to move the legs 26 into disposition alongside tubular member 18. Standard 46 may be removed from the tubular member 18 for storage of the entire warning equipment in a minimum space.

It can be appreciated because of the way in which support 10,is firmly affixed to the very heavy manhole cover 12, it is virtually impossible for the warning device to be tipped over under very strong wind conditions or if a workman should inadvertently strike the clamp 10 or standard 46 with his work equipment.

Furthermore, the support 10 may be used to support a standard even when a manhole cover 12 is not available, since the feet 52 may simply be swung into the disposition thereof within the channel portion of legs 26, whereby the entire assembly simply rests on the outermost extremities of feet 52.

Another feature of the present clamp is the fact that different standards such as 46 may be carried by the utility vehicle and placed in position within tubular member 18, without the necessity of removing the clamp from manhole cover'12. For example, under daylight conditions, it might be desirable to use flags or other similar types of units such as rotating paddles or balls, whereas at night it would be desirable to employ lighted flares or reflectors. Under these circumstances, the standard 46 used to support daylight type warning devices may simply be replaced by a night standard in a minimum time and without the requirement of a support for each warning system.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A support for a signal standard and adapted to be secured to a manhole cover, said support comprising:

an elongated member for supporting the signal standard and adapted to be positioned on a manhole cover in a generally upright position over a central area of a cover;

an element shiftably mounted on the member for move ment longitudinally of the latter;

a plurality of legs swingably coupled to said element for movement therewith and projecting radially from the element in different directions;

a foot on each of said legs and projecting inwardly therefrom toward said member at an angle with respect to corresponding legs for engagement with a manhole cover beneath the peripheral margin thereof, said member being of sufiicient length to permit the normally lowermost extremity thereof to be shifted into engagement with a central area of a manhole cover when the feet are hooked beneath a margin of a manhole cover; and

interengageable means on the element and said member for releasably maintaining the same in selected relative dispositions whereby the support may be clamped to a. manhole cover by placement of the member in said position thereover with the feet in engagement with the peripheral margin of a cover followed by shifting of the member relative to the element in a direction to move the lowermost end of the member into contact with said central portion of a cover.

2. The invention as claimed in claim 1 wherein said element comprises an internally threaded collar and the member is externally threaded and in complemental threaded engagement with the collar whereby the member shifts with respect to the collar upon relative rotation therebetween.

3. The invention as claimed in claim 2 wherein is provided handle means secured to said member for facilitating manual rotation of the latter with respect to the collar.

4. The invention as claimed in claim 1 wherein said member is of tubular configuration for receiving the signal standard therein in telescoped relationship, and wherein locking means is provided on the member for locking the signal standard in any desired position with respect to the member.

5. The invention as claimed in claim 1 wherein is provided a component slidably positioned on said member for movement longitudinally of the latter, and link means pivotally joining each of the legs at a point remote from said element, to said component for effecting extension and retraction of the legs in response to shifting of said element relative to the component.

6. The invention as claimed in claim 1 wherein is provided means pivotally mounting each of the feet on respective legs, there being stop means on each of said extremities of the legs disposed to be engaged by respective feet and limit swinging movement thereof relative to corresponding legs to a substantially acute angle.

7. The invention as claimed in claim 6 wherein said stop means on the legs are positioned to limit swinging movement of the feet away from respective legs through an arc to cause the hook members to lie in a substantially common plane parallel with a plane through the cover when said feet are in engagement with the periphery thereof and the member is in contact with the central portion of the cover.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,015,934 1 /1912 Black 24846 1,091,000 3/1914 Lyman 248-46 1,863,442 6/1932 Goodman 248171 1,863,756 6/1932 Lufkin 248170 2,485,081 10/ 1949 Ahrens 248-46 2,925,979 2/1960 Walker 248146 3,080,139 3/1963 Caprioli 248-46 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A SUPPORT FOR A SIGNAL STANDARD AND ADAPTED TO BE SECURED TO A MANHOLE COVER, SAID SUPPORT COMPRISING: AN ELONGATED MEMBER FOR SUPPORTING THE SIGNAL STANDARD AND ADAPTED TO BE POSITIONED ON A MANHOLE COVER IN A GENERALLY UPRIGHT POSITION OVER A CENTRAL AREA OF A COVER; AN ELEMENT SHIFTABLY MOUNTED ON THE MEMBER FOR MOVEMENT LONGITUDINALLY OF THE LATTER; A PLURALITY OF LEGS SWINGABLY COUPLED TO SAID ELEMENT FOR MOVEMENT THEREWITH AND PROJECTING RADIALLY FROM THE ELEMENT IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS; AFOOT ON EACH OF SAID LEGS AND PROJECTING INWARDLY THEREFROM TOWARD SAID MEMBER AT AN ANGLE WITH RESPECT TO CORRESPONDING LEGS FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH A MANHOLE COVER BENEATH THE PERIPHERAL MARGIN THEREOF, SAID MEMBER BEING OF SUFICIENT LENGTH TO PERMIT THE NORMALLY LOWERMOST EXTERMITY THEREOF TO BE SHIFTED INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH A CENTRAL AREA OF A MANHOLE COVER WHEN THE FEET ARE HOOKED BENEATH A MARGIN OF A MANHOLE COVER; AND INTERENGAGEABLE MEANS ON THE ELEMENT AND SAID MEMBER FOR RELEASABLY MAINTAINING THE SAME IN SELECTED RELATIVE DISPOSITIONS WHEREBY THE SUPPORT MAY BE CLAMPED TO A MANHOLE COVER BY PLACEMENT OF THE MEMBER IN SAID POSITION THEREOVER WITH THE FEET IN ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PERIPHERAL MARGIN OF A COVER FOLLLOWED BY SHIFTING OF THE MEMBER RELATIVE TO THE ELEMENT IN A DIRECTION TO MOVE THE LOWERMOST END OF THE MEMBER INTO CONTACT WITH SAID CENTRAL PORTION OF A COVER. 